NARRATIVE AND CHARACTERSCOMP 585/185: Serious Games
NARRATIVE
GAME RELATIONSHIPS
Player
User Interface
Storytelling Engine
Core Mechanics
Triggers
Narrative Events In-Game Events Player Events
STORY MODELS
Linear Branching Foldback Emergent
LINEAR STORIES
Aesthetically Greater emotional capability Deny dramatic freedom
Practically Require less content Engine simpler Less prone to bugs (absurdities)
BRANCHING STORIES
Aesthetically Replayable Harder to create specific emotions Event influence
Advise player of significance Deferred or cumulative
Practically Expensive and complex Merging Number of endings
FOLDBACK STORIES
Inevitable events that create the story arc Every play comes through them
Compromise between complexity and dramatic freedom
EMERGENT STORIES
No storytelling engine Story evolves strictly from player
actions
CONSIDERATIONS
Endings Dramatic and premature Multiplicity
Narrative granularity
ADVANCING THE PLOT
Mechanisms Challenges Choices Drama (time) Journey
Tools Cut scenes Dialogue
THREE ACT PLAY
Set up Confrontation Resolution
HERO’S JOURNEY (CAMPBELL 1949)
A hero ventures forth from the world of common day into a region of supernatural wonder: fabulous forces are there encountered and a decisive victory is won: the hero comes back from this mysterious adventure with the power to bestow boons on his fellow man.
Call to adventure Road of trials Boon Return to the ordinary world Application of the boon
Vogler’s version
RESOURCES
Tony Hirst’s Digital Worlds Lee Sheldon, Character Development
and Storytelling for Games (2004)
CHARACTERS
Shape shifter Form changer
Threshold guardian Progress delayer
Trickster Mischief maker
Shadow Ultimate evil
Herald Used to facilitate
change in the story
CHARACTER ARCHETYPES
Hero Outer problem is aim
of game Inner problem is flaw
or dark secret Mentor
Guide character Higher self
Hero as he aspires to be
Ally Meant to aid the hero
CHARACTER GROWTH
Must include growth to have a meaningful story
Growth varies by genre Must decide:
Which characters will grow How they will grow Implementation in game Affect on gameplay Representation to player
CHARACTER GROWTH
GOALS OF CHARACTER DESIGN
Enhance story Emotional response Characters to identify with and care
about Credible within the game style
GOALS OF CHARACTER DESIGN
Create characters that people …find intriguing (even if a villain)can believe incan identify with
Distinctive enough to be memorable
PLAYER-DESIGNED AVATARS
Flexibility differs by genre Role-playing games usually
greatest Race, sex, hair, physical
attributes, etc. Typically no personality but
what is created Goal is tools for players to
create themselves
NONSPECIFIC AVATARS
Designer doesn’t specify anything Text-based adventure games
Allows very tight connection between player and avatar Half-Life’s Gordon Freeman
Limiting for designer
SPECIFIC AVATARS
Goals Personality of their own Belong in the game
Begins with visual depiction Player’s relationship more complex
Identify with, not become In extreme, avatar can reject player’s
guidance The Longest Journey’s April Ryan
SEMI-SPECIFIC AVATARS Only partially characterized
Better to make cartoonish Common with action game
avatars Mario Lara Croft
“Beyond the bare facts of her biography, her perfect vacuity means we can make Lara Croft into whoever we want her to be.” – Steven Pool, “Lara’s Story”
CONTROLLING AVATARS
Indirect (“point and click”) Doesn’t steer avatar, points to where to
go. Player as disembodied guide friend More likely specific avatar
Direct Player steers avatar through game
world, doing a variety of actions as necessary
More likely nonspecific or semi-specific
DESIGNING THE AVATAR
Nonspecific, semi-specific or specific Visual, psychological, social
Direct or indirect control
Goal: character the player can identify with qualities can appreciate
ART-DRIVEN CHARACTER DESIGN
Creating a character by first thinking about his visual appearance
Visual design Character physical types Physical design Defining attributes Sidekicks
VISUAL DESIGN
Realism doesn’t matter, self-consistency does Pac-Man Lara Croft
Purely artistic characters tend to be more superficial and one-dimensional Lets the player impose his own
personality
CHARACTER PHYSICAL TYPES
Humanoids Non-humanoids Hybrids
PHYSICAL DESIGN
Methods to attract› Hypersexualization› Cuteness
Cartoonlike qualities› Cool, tough, cute, goofy
Culture differences in art styles› Japanese: large eyes and tiny/huge mouths
Cute faces with sexually provocative women
› European: often ugly and strange to Americans
DEFINING ATTRIBUTES
Clothing, weapons, symbolic objects, name
Color palette reflects character’s attitudes or emotional temperament Superman, upholder of “truth, justice,
and the American way”: bright/cheery, American flag
Batman, Dark Knight of Gotham City (grittier, more run-down than Metropolis): somber
SIDEKICKS
Most prominent common element in game design
Combine qualities (e.g., tough with cute) to provide variety and comic relief
Benefits Give player additional moves and actions Extend emotional range of game Can give player information they couldn’t
get otherwise
STORY-DRIVEN CHARACTER DESIGN
Starting with the story behind the character and developing his traits and personality before considering his appearance
Character dimensionality Language & accent Developing believable characters Character growth Character archetypes
CHARACTER DIMENSIONALITY
Zero-dimensional› May display only discrete emotional states
One-dimensional› Have only a single variable to characterize a
changing feeling or attitude Two-dimensional
› Have multiple non-conflicting variables that express their impulses
Three-dimensional› Have multiple emotional states that
can produce conflicting impulses
LANGUAGE & ACCENT
Key cue to character’s personality› Vocabulary – age, social class, education› Grammar and sentence construction – education
and class› Accent – place of origin and social class› Delivery (speed and tone) – excitement, boredom,
anxiety, suspicion, attitude or emotional state› Vocal quirks – distinguishing
Sound effects also tell about personality› Confirm player’s command› Signal injury, damage, death› Pitch describes
BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS
Major characters need rich personalities› Answer many questions about them
Where was he born? What is his education? What are his favorite activities? What were his biggest triumphs in life? What are his interesting or important
possessions? Etc.
› Show through appearance, language, and behavior
BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS
Attributes – location, health, relationships, etc. Can change as the player plays the
game Status attributes: change frequently and
by large amounts Characterization attributes: change
infrequently and only by small amounts or not at all
BELIEVABLE CHARACTERS
Three golden guidelines to developing effective, believable characters Needs to intrigue the player Needs to get the player to like him Needs to change and grow according to
experience